Tailor-made for readers who enjoy metafictive, interactive picture books
When the author of this picture book falls asleep, the illustrator—personified as a small purple penguin—sneakily decides to write a story.
In the illustrator’s story, the cute and cuddly Princess Penguin is envious that her older sister, Princess Llama (whose feet smell like cheese), has bigger and better stuff. She wishes on a falling star to send her sister to the moon, and Princess Llama disappears overnight. Princess Penguin briefly enjoys her status as the oldest sister…until it is time to go to bed. Terrified of the dark, the illustrator, Princess Penguin, tries very hard to bring her sister back from the moon. When her various ploys to get her sister back don’t work, the illustrator enlists the help of the author (hilariously named Ima Snoozen) to rescue her sister. Offering an actual story rather than resting as a metafictional meditation, Frost’s hilarious picture book is rife with bold plot twists and cheeky dialogue. For instance, when Princess Llama gets wished to the moon, the narration reads, “Princess Penguin suddenly felt sad and began to cry.” The very next page contradicts this with an emphatic “NOT!!!” accompanied by an image of Princess Penguin dancing under a shiny disco ball. The pictures are bright and colorful, and the illustrator’s and Snoozen’s texts can be distinguished by a change in the typeface.
Tailor-made for readers who enjoy metafictive, interactive picture books . (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: March 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-8075-6064-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Whitman
Review Posted Online: Dec. 2, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2018
New parents of daughters will eat these up and perhaps pass on the lessons learned.
All the reasons why a daughter needs a mother.
Each spread features an adorable cartoon animal parent-child pair on the recto opposite a rhyming verse: “I’ll always support you in giving your all / in every endeavor, the big and the small, / and be there to catch you in case you should fall. / I hope you believe this is true.” A virtually identical book, Why a Daughter Needs a Dad, publishes simultaneously. Both address standing up for yourself and your values, laughing to ease troubles, being thankful, valuing friendship, persevering and dreaming big, being truthful, thinking through decisions, and being open to differences, among other topics. Though the sentiments/life lessons here and in the companion title are heartfelt and important, there are much better ways to deliver them. These books are likely to go right over children’s heads and developmental levels (especially with the rather advanced vocabulary); their parents are the more likely audience, and for them, the books provide some coaching in what kids need to hear. The two books are largely interchangeable, especially since there are so few references to mom or dad, but one spread in each book reverts to stereotype: Dad balances the two-wheeler, and mom helps with clothing and hair styles. Since the books are separate, it aids in customization for many families.
New parents of daughters will eat these up and perhaps pass on the lessons learned. (Picture book. 4-8, adult)Pub Date: May 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4926-6781-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2019
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among
Pete, the cat who couldn’t care less, celebrates Christmas with his inimitable lassitude.
If it weren’t part of the title and repeated on every other page, readers unfamiliar with Pete’s shtick might have a hard time arriving at “groovy” to describe his Christmas celebration, as the expressionless cat displays not a hint of groove in Dean’s now-trademark illustrations. Nor does Pete have a great sense of scansion: “On the first day of Christmas, / Pete gave to me… / A road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” The cat is shown at the wheel of a yellow microbus strung with garland and lights and with a star-topped tree tied to its roof. On the second day of Christmas Pete gives “me” (here depicted as a gray squirrel who gets on the bus) “2 fuzzy gloves, and a road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” On the third day, he gives “me” (now a white cat who joins Pete and the squirrel) “3 yummy cupcakes,” etc. The “me” mentioned in the lyrics changes from day to day and gift to gift, with “4 far-out surfboards” (a frog), “5 onion rings” (crocodile), and “6 skateboards rolling” (a yellow bird that shares its skateboards with the white cat, the squirrel, the frog, and the crocodile while Pete drives on). Gifts and animals pile on until the microbus finally arrives at the seaside and readers are told yet again that it’s all “GROOVY!”
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among . (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-267527-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
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